Most universities are competing to attract graduate students to join their graduate programs. Most of these programs are focused and specialized in a specific field. The new trend now is to open multidisciplinary programs which can attract graduates from all disciplines
This is a great question! Since no one else has answered yet, let's see if a bit of controversy elicits responses.
My first inclination is that graduate programs are typically focused rather narrowly. This specialization seems to have been part of the required training for a researcher to create new knowledge; in part, I suspect this is because it is extremely challenging to create new general knowledge. More importantly, this approach allows us to expand the frontiers of knowledge.
I like Sobhi Nasir's question because it goes beyond complementary programs like math and economics. The "open multidisciplinary programs" he mentioned seems to imply that combining seemingly unrelated disciplines may have more positive impacts (than negative).
One interpretation is that universities are searching for more revenue producing units (RPU's) (i.e., students) in times of diminished funding. Some might suggest that it would be easier for weaker students to be successful in this environment.
Another interpretation is that this cross disciplinary interaction improves programs, graduates, and scholarly endeavors. Hopefully, others will share their perceptions.
My first inclination is also that "graduate programmes are typically focused" they tend to prepare specialists in a given discipline.
Maybe the environment now needs something different? A needs assessment exercise may provide the answer you seek.
This is a fantastic question and based on my own internal needs assessment it combines two generalized fields - sustainability and entrepreneurship. I firmly believe that the world is ready for graduate programs to draw from different banks of knowledge and yet produce not only new knowledge but also new fields of expertise.
Sobhi,
I agree that the question is sparks the enegy of the mind. It also personally demonstrates the fractering of the creative side of my mind thought flying in and out. Renids me of the 60's.
To directly answer as I type would be a program which would force the two branches in the social sciences to work together positivist and interpretivists. There has been a rift in between theroritical physiscists caling mathmatics just a ldiscriptive langugue and mathematicians can't take a joke. In philosophy bring together the rationalism and empiricsts, political science the conservatism and liberalism, linguestics the structure gramer and dependancy grammer. In pshccology psychodymanic and humanistic and in and call the program epistemological healing all under a critical theory approach. That should make them more angry at the CT and just maybe they would settel they petty bickering and get focusd on something good to come out that benifts human kind.
Douglas
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